German steel plant to shut this year Thyssen Krupp is to close a steel sheet plant at Neuwied in Germany as part of a cost saving programme at its European steel division. Management and workers’ councils have agreed to the closure, which will affect about 320 employees. The company blamed the “difficult situation in the steel market” for the closure.

The company said that the production site, which is about 50km south east of Cologne, has been running below full capacity for some time. The “most important facilities” at the site will be shut down by the end of the year, and several production systems will be transported across the Rhine to the group’s Andernach site.

The company said that “As many employees as possible” from the Neuwied facility will be given jobs at Andernach.”

Thyssen Krupp plans to cut costs at its steel division by about 500 million euros by the 2014-15 financial year; this will involve cutting around 2,000 jobs.

Source - www.machinery-market.co.uk